A portion of a $25 million federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant will fund the construction of the St. Louis Regional Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center, to be built in St. Louis’ Vandeventer neighborhood adjacent to Ranken Technical College. The University of Missouri–St. Louis and Saint Louis University are co-leading research and development for the new center. (Rendering courtesy of AMISTL)
There’s celebration across St. Louis after the announcement that Greater St. Louis Inc. won a competitive $25 million federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant to develop the region’s advanced manufacturing industry cluster, including the construction of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center in north St. Louis.
It’s also a victory at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, which earlier this year was tapped, along with Saint Louis University, to co-lead research and development for the new center.
“Uniting in support of AMICSTL is proof positive of how the St. Louis region succeeds when we work together,” said Dennis Muilenburg, chair of AMICSTL and a member of the Chair’s Council of Greater St. Louis, Inc., in a press release announcing the Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant. “As a result of regional collaboration, St. Louis will now be home to a state-of-the-art facility and expandable campus that will drive diverse and equitable economic growth and elevate St. Louis as a global leader in advanced manufacturing and technological innovation. This one-of-a-kind manufacturing epicenter will enable talent development, leading-edge research and development, and prototyping and production capacity that uniquely span and connect multiple high-tech industries in the region – including the aerospace, agtech, automotive, biomedical, construction, energy, geospatial, and logistics sectors.”
The new center will be built adjacent to the campus of Ranken Technical College in the City of St. Louis’ Vandeventer neighborhood and will form an innovation triangle in the heart of the St. Louis region, along with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s West campus northwest of downtown and the rapidly growing biotechnology sector in the Cortex Innovation Community. The manufacturing innovation center will add to the region’s long-held strengths in aerospace, transportation and agriculture technology.
SLU and UMSL will coordinate with AMICSTL’s university and industry partners to manage the research and development agenda, including the selection process for R&D projects, dissemination of findings and translation of research into commercial applications. The two universities will represent AMICSTL to the national and international advanced manufacturing R&D communities.
Their work in research and development will dovetail with the center’s efforts to bolster workforce development and increase production and prototyping capacity, bringing value to its many stakeholders.
“As the premier public research university in the region, UMSL is pleased to partner with SLU to provide the research and development foundation for AMICSTL as we continue to maximize our collective regional assets and work collaboratively to advance inclusive economic growth,” UMSL Chancellor Kristin Sobolik said earlier this year.
